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UNDER THE 
PLANTAIN LEAF 


A Day wi th Three 
Insects 

QTXTQ 


By CLARA J. DENTON 

AUTHOR OF “TOPSY ON THE TOP FLOOR,” ETC. 



A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 

CHICAGO NEW YORK 





















LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Oooies deceived 

JUL 11 1904 

o copyright Entry 
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GLAs4 Q- xxo. Wo. 

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COPY B 


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Copyright 1904 

BY 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 



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Under the Plantain Leaf 


Chapter I 

RELATIVES 

Tt was a warm day in August; the 
leaves hung lazily in the air, the 
birds had ceased singing, and every 
living thing seemed resting. Even a 
little brown ant, which had been 
running briskly to and fro since the 
rising of the sun, stopped at last 
under a big plantain leaf, and 
stretched her six tired little legs. 

“How do you do?” said a voice near 
her, and, turning about, she saw a 
handsome young wasp, folding its 



6 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


wings in the cool shade of the plan¬ 
tain leaf. 

“Warm, is it not? Almost warm 
enough for even me,” continued the 
wasp. “But how does it happen 
that you are idle? I believe I have 
never before seen one of your family 
standing around doing nothing.” 

Before the ant could reply, a honey 
bee dropped down in front of them. 

“Here is another busy creature. 
Are you tired out, too?” asked the 
wasp. 

“Oh, no,” the bee replied, “I am 
never tired. But I lit on that flower 
that you see over there, and some¬ 
thing hit me on the wing and hurt 
me so that I could not fly. I dropped, 
and here I am.” 


RELATIVES 


7 


“Well, yon might be in a worse 
place, and in worse company, too,” 
said the ant in her most friendly 
tone. 

“Perhaps,” suggested the wasp, “I’d 
better fetch the dragon-fly, to sew 
you up. I have heard that he does 
very fine needle-work.” 

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the ant. 
“That is just some of that chattering 
cricket’s idle talk. The dragon-fly can 
sew no more than I can, who cannot 
sew at all. But, Miss Bee, if there is 
anything that I can do for you, I will 
do it gladly.” 

“Oh, no,” said the bee, “there is 
nothing that can be done for me, al¬ 
though I thank you both very much 
for your offers.” 


8 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“But what will become of you if 
you cannot fly?” 

“Oh, but I think I shall be quite 
well in a few minutes; and I am 
sure I have earned a rest, for I have 
been hard at work not only all day, 
but all summer.” 

“Since you have been so busy,” 
said the wasp, “you might improve 
the time now, while you are resting, 
by telling us just what you have 
done, so far, to-day.” 

“Dear me,” said the bee, trying to 
buzz with one wing; “it would take 
me longer than I like to think of 
staying here to tell you even half 
that I have done since daylight, but 
of course an idle, trifling wasp could 
not be expected to understand that.” 


RELATIVES 


9 


“ Come now, Miss Bee,” said the ant 
softly, “please do not begin to scold. 



ONE OF THOSE DREADFUL THINGS CALLED MEN, WITH 
THAT STILL MORE DREADFUL THING CALLED 
A BOY, CAME NEAR MY HOME 
AND SAT DOWN 

We three should not quarrel, because, 
you know, we are very nearly related.” 


















10 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“Indeed, I know nothing of the 
kind!” said the bee, very indignantly. 
“I claim no relationship with any¬ 
thing so useless as a wasp.” 

“No matter whether you claim it 
or not, the relationship is a very 
stubborn fact,” the ant retorted 
quietly. 

“How do you happen to know so 
much about it?” asked the bee in 
her most stinging voice. 

“Well, the other day one of those 
dreadful things that are called men, 
with that still more dreadful thing 
called a boy, came near my ant-hill 
and sat down. The man told the 
boy that ants and wasps and bees 
belong to a great division of the in¬ 
sect world called—now, let me see; 


RELATIVES 


11 


what did he *say it was? Something 
about hi—” 

“High, diddle, diddle, I presume,” 
interrupted the wasp. “I have heard 
about that, but it had nothing to do 
with any of us. It was mixed up 
in some way with a cat and a 
fiddle.” 

“Indeed, it was nothing of the sort,’’ 
replied the ant in her most dignified 
manner. 

“I have heard the chickens in the 
yard talk about ‘high cock-a-lorum,’” 
said the bee, “but I never could make 
out what on earth they meant. Per¬ 
haps that was what the man meant, 
although I do not see how the chick¬ 
ens could know more about it than 
we do ourselves, if it refers to us.” 


L.f C. 


12 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“Pshaw!” exclaimed the ant im¬ 
patiently, “that is not the right 
word, at all. If you will only be 
quiet for a few minutes, I am sure 
I can think of it. How, let me see 
—hi- hi- hi—oh, I have it, at last! 
— hymenoptera .” 

“What a queer name!” said the 
bee and the wasp together, and 
they repeated the long, hard word 
over and over again, as though they 
enjoyed saying it. 

“Perhaps that other word means 
something about the chicken fam¬ 
ily,” said the wasp wisely. 

“ If hens were not so stupid, we 
might inquire and find out,” ob¬ 
served the ant. “But I have never 
been able to make one of them 


RELATIVES 


13 


understand me, although I can under¬ 
stand them easily enough.” 

“Of course,” buzzed the wasp. 
“Who could not learn to understand 
them, when they say the very same 
thing day after day, and year after 
year?” 

“And not at all clever, at the 
best,” added the bee. 

“Well, never mind the hens,” said 
the ant. “Let us talk of something 
more interesting than the poor crea¬ 
tures that scratch, scratch, all day 
long in the dirt.” 

“Yes,” put in the wasp, “let us 
talk about ourselves, for instance.” 

“I have noticed,” said the bee, 
“that whenever anyone proposes to 
talk about something interesting, it 


14 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


means that he wishes to talk about 
himself.” 

“That is the way it is with hu¬ 
mans, at least,” said the ant. 

“Now, see here!” buzzed the wasp 
in a rage; “if you compare me to a 
human, I shall feel forced to leave 
your company. There is nothing, in 
my opinion, quite so contemptible as 
a human.” 

“How can you talk like that?” 
the ant demanded. “Do you not 
know that the human being is the 
noblest creature on earth?” 

“I know he is the meanest crea¬ 
ture on earth!” was the wasp’s sharp 
retort. “Is there another creature 
that would attack and destroy an 
insect merely for sport?” 


RELATIVES 


15 


“I am quite sure I do not 
know of any,” admitted the ant 
reluctantly. 

“This very summer a lot of men 



and boys came to our nest and tore 
it to pieces, killing many of our 
number, and so entirely ruining our 




16 


UNDEB THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


home that we have had to build 
another,” the wasp went on. 

“But you must remember, Miss 
Wasp,” said the bee, “that you have 
a very bad reputation, and that may 
be the reason you have so many en¬ 
emies.” 

“Well, -I can assure you we lived 
up to our reputation that day. We 
sent more than one of ‘the noblest 
creatures on earth ’ away howling 
with pain.” 

“Which was, of course, very poor 
policy, since it only increased the 
hatred people feel for you.” 

“But how strange it is that 
no one seems to remember we do 
no harm to anyone if we are 
not disturbed! I am sure none of 


RELATIVES 


17 


my family was ever known to fight 
when away from its nest, unless it 
was first injured in some way. We 
are not quarrelsome; we simply try 
to defend ourselves.” 

“Well, it is a good thing,” said 
the ant, “that we hymenoptera all 
have the power of stinging. If it 
were not for that, we should come 
to grief more frequently than we do.” 

“Oh, yes,—hymenoptera,—that is 
what I wanted to talk about. Can 
you tell us, Miss Ant, why we are 
called by that long, hard name ? ” 
asked the wasp. 

“Yes, I heard the man say that it 
was taken from two Greek words, 
one meaning a membrane or skin, 
and the other a wing. All of us, 


18 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


you know, are alike in this one 
thing,—we have four membranous 
wings. So, though one of us is a 
bee, the other a wasp, and the other 
an ant, we are all hymenoptera.” 

“Indeed,” said the bee, with a laugh 
as scornful as a bee could give, “I 
should really like to know, Miss Ant, 
where your wings are! Do you roll 
them up and leave them at home in 
the nest, when you go out for an 
airing ? If wings make ‘hymenoptera,’ 
then you surely are not one. Just 
listen, Miss Wasp, to this: Miss Ant 
claims to be related to us on the 
strength of her wings, when she 
has never had a wing in her life!” 

“I must confess it is a little 
queer, to put it as mildly as pos- 


RELATIVES 


19 


sible,” said the wasp; “but perhaps 
Miss Ant is not to blame. No 
doubt the man who had so much 
to tell was not so wise as he pre¬ 
tended. I have heard that humans 
are very deceitful things. Come, 
Miss Ant; what have you to say 
for yourself? I believe in fair play, 
and so I never condemn any one 
unheard.” 


Chapter II 

FAMILY FTAMES 


he ant did not seem in the 



A least offended. “Thank you, 
Miss Wasp,” she said modestly. “It 
is very kind of you to look at the 
matter in that way. It is like many 
other things in this world; it seems 
queer at first, but is very easily ex¬ 
plained. The trouble is that most 
of us are not willing to wait for ex¬ 
planations. We wish to understand 
things all in a minute.” 

“ I am afraid that is true,” ad¬ 
mitted the wasp. “But now we 
should like to hear your explana¬ 
tion.” 


20 


FAMILY NAMES 


21 


“ Some of us,” continued the ant, 
“have wings like yours, but as I am 
only a worker, or imperfect female, 
I have not the gift of wings.” 

“That seems hardly fair,” observed 
the wasp. “Wow I, also, am only a 
worker; yet see my beautiful wings,” 
and she proudly waved them back 
and forth. 

“It is the same with me,” said 
the bee. “I am a worker, but I am 
not deprived of wings on that ac¬ 
count.” 

“Certainly not. It would indeed 
be sad if you two had been turned 
out in the world without wings, 
since you need them in your work. 
How could you go among the flowers 
without your wings?” 


22 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“That is true,” assented the bee 
and the wasp together. 

“But with me it is different. In 
my work I have no use for wings. 
They would only be in my way if 
I had them.” 

“But do you never wish for wings?” 
asked the wasp. 

“I was foolish enough to do so 
when I was a very young ant. But 
I soon discovered that, after the one 
short and merry dance of the winged 
ants in the air, the males drop dead, 
and the females crawl away into 
dark places, and rub off their shining 
wings, forever after staying at home 
in the dark, doing nothing but laying 
eggs. Then I was very well satisfied 
to be a worker and have no wings.” 


FAMILY NAMES 


23 


“So should I be under those cir¬ 
cumstances,” admitted the wasp. “I 
have noticed that things are pretty 
well evened up all around. We 
none of us have all the good things, 
neither are any of us afflicted with 
all the disagreeable things.” 

“But now, if you will excuse the 
liberty I take,” said the bee, “there 
is one point that looks foggy to me 
yet, in spite of your kind explana¬ 
tions, Miss Ant, and—” 

“Dear me!” interrupted the wasp 
saucily, “I am surprised, Miss Bee, 
to hear that there is anything you do 
not understand! I thought you were 
one of the clever ones who see 
through a thing in a moment.” 

“Come, come, Miss Wasp,” said the 



24 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


ant with unusual sharpness, “do not 
be disagreeable, or we shall begin 
to think that there is some reason 
for your bad reputation.” 

“Oh, no offense is intended, I am 
sure,” apologized the wasp, readily. 
“I was only a bit surprised to hear 
the wise bee own up to her ignorance.” 

“I suppose you thought she was 
like some humans that I have heard 
about, who will never ask questions 
for fear of showing that they do not 
know everything, and so their store 
of information is never increased, 
and they live and die in ignor¬ 
ance. Miss Bee is, as you say, wise, 
too wise to pretend that she knows 
everything, and so she will continue 
to grow wiser every day. 


FAMILY NAMES 


25 


“But, now, what is the question 
that you wish to ask, Miss Bee? 
If I cannot answer it I will tell you 
so frankly, and then we will both 
try to discover it from some source. 
For, you know, there is a way of 
finding out almost everything, if we 
only know where to look for it.” 

“This is what puzzles me: why 
should we bear the same name when 
we have nothing in common but our 
wings?” 

“If that statement were true, then 
there would indeed be good cause for 
your question. But it is not true. 
On the contrary, we have many 
things in common.” 

“Tell us about them,” the others 
begged. 


26 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“In order to do that I must ask 
you a few questions.” 

“Oh,” exclaimed the other two, 
“that is a different matter. It is 
far easier to ask questions than it is 
to answer them.” 

“ So, it is, sometimes,” the ant 
agreed; “but I shall ask you those 
that are very easy. In the first 
place, Miss Wasp, how many con¬ 
ditions or stages of growth have 
you in your family?” 

“You mean by that, I suppose, 
how many times do we change our 
shape and general appearance?” 

“Exactly.” 

“Well, the answer to that is easy 
enough. We change four times; that 
is, if you count the egg.” 


FAMILY NAMES 


27 


“And how many changes have 
you, Miss Bee?” 

“The same number.” 

“And we ants, also, have four. 
There is with all of us, you see, 
first the egg, then the larva or eat¬ 
ing stage, then the pupa or sleeping 
stage, then the imago or perfect 
insect.” 

“But,” said the bee, “I have 
always supposed that all insects had 
these four stages to pass through.” 

“Many kinds have, but all of them 
except the hymenoptera have an¬ 
other peculiarity. Miss Wasp, do 
your larvae stir about and feed them¬ 
selves?” 

“No” replied the wasp with an 
impatient buzz. “I only wish they 


28 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


did. There would be some pleasure 
in living if it were not for having 
to feed them—the greedy things!” 

“And now, Miss Bee, how is it 
with your larvae? They do not get 
their own living, do they?” 

“Indeed they do not,” said the bee 
mournfully. 

“Our larvae, also, have to be fed,” 
said the ant; “so here again we are 
alike. But the other insects who 
have four stages * of growth do not 
have to feed their larvae, which go 
around and feed themselves.” 

“What a lucky thing!” exclaimed 
the others. 

“It is only the hymenoptera, 
among these four-growth insects, that 
are obliged to feed their young.” 


FAMILY NAMES 


29 


“ Rather hard on the hymenop- 
tera,” said the wasp. 

“ But I have often thought,” the 
ant suggested, “that that proves us 
to be of a high order of beings, 
for I have heard that there is noth¬ 
ing in the world so helpless when 
it is young, as a human.”. 

“ There is some consolation in 
that,” said the wasp sharply. “I am 
glad they have a period when they 
cannot harm us. What a pity they 
do not stay in that stage always, 
the meddlesome things!” 

“But now that you have discov¬ 
ered how much alike we hymenop- 
tera are, I must tell you that, 
although this is our order name, 
each of us belongs to a separate 






30 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


genus, or family, and each family 
has its own name.” 

“Why, to be sure! I have heard 
of that before,” the bee put in. 

“Oh, do tell us about it,” said the 
ant, her curiosity aroused. 

“Well, my home is in a beautiful 
orchard, and there are thousands 











FAMILY NAMES 


31 


and thousands of bees there. One 
day, when the humans were prowl¬ 
ing around after the honey that we 
store up for our winter use— 

“But why do you let them have 
it? ” interrupted the wasp angrily. 
“Why don’t you have a little grit, 
and sting them?” 

“We cannot help ourselves,” said 
the bee sadly. “They build our 
hives in such a way that they may 
take out the boxes with the honey 
in them when we do not even know 
it. But as they always leave us 
enough to live on, we let them alone. 
Well, as I was saying, one day when 
they were poking about in this way, 
I heard one of them say that the 
place was called an apiary, because 


32 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


of our family name. I wondered 
what that could mean, but I begin 
to understand now.” 

“Yes,” said the ant, “your family 
name is Apis.” 

“Dear me,” buzzed the wasp, as 
though very much excited, “how 
very learned we are becoming! But 
I must say, Miss Bee, your family 
name is very suggestive of Apes, 
which I have heard are very dis¬ 
agreeable creatures. I do hope they 
are not related to us, also.” 

“Oh, no indeed, not in the least,” 
said the ant with a hymenopteric 
laugh that might have been heard 
three lengths of a wing away. 

“But how about the wasp?” asked 
the bee. “Has she no family name? 


FAMILY NAMES 


33 


Or is she so famous throughout the 
world that she does not need one, 
and gets along well enough as plain 
Miss Wasp?’’ 

“Do not distress yourself about 
my family name,” said the wasp 
sharply. “I am perfectly content to 
be known as Miss Wasp, and I pre¬ 
sume I shall be much happier if I 
never learn of any other. I con¬ 
sider it very foolish to pay so much 
attention to names, since they seem 
to have nothing to do with either 
our character or behavior, and relate 
only to the things we cannot help.” 

“But, my friend,” said the ant in 
her most soothing voice, “do not be 
so faint-hearted in the pursuit of 
knowledge. How foolish you would 


34 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


feel if I should meet you and the 
bee some day in a great company, 
and should address each of you by 
her family name, and you should 
be too ignorant to respond to 
yours! And your name is so pretty. 
It is Vespa.” 

“That is not so bad,” said the 
wasp, quite restored to her good 
humor; “but now, if I am not too 
bold, may I ask your family name, 
Miss Ant? And also, if I may be 
allowed -another question, how do 
you happen to be so wise?” 

“My family name,” answered the 
ant, taking no notice of the second 
question, “is Formica. So, although 
our general name is the same, our 
family names are quite different.” 










FAMILY NAMES 


35 


“It is nice to have something that 
belongs specially to each of us,” 
said the bee, “and I am sure I think 
much more of myself since I know 
I have a name which does not be¬ 
long to every other insect that hap¬ 
pens to have a pair of wings.” 

“But you have not answered my 
other question,” persisted the wasp, 
for she was determined not to be 
out-witted by the clever little ant. 
“I wish to know why you are so 
much wiser than an Apis or a Vespa? 
Is it simply because you are a For¬ 
mica?” 

“Ho,” laughed the ant, waving her 
antennae about in glee. “My wis¬ 
dom, as you are pleased to call it, 
has nothing whatever to do with my 


36 UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 

name. In fact, if you will allow me 
to correct you, it is not ‘wisdom’ at 
all, but knowledge, which anyone 
may win by making a little effort. 
I gained mine, as I told you before, 
by keeping my ears open, while 
working around my ant-hill.” 

“But speaking of ‘ant-hill,’ reminds 
me that we have wandered away 
from our starting point.” 

“I cannot see that we have wan¬ 
dered very far,” said the bee. “We 
seem to be exactly where we were 
—under the big plantain leaf. But 
that reminds me of something, too, 
and that is that I should be moving 
on. I have already spent too much 
time here in the shade, resting and 
gossiping.” 


FAMILY NAMES 


37 


“Oh, come now, Miss Apis,” said 
the wasp, “what is the use of being 
so sharp at twisting my words? You 
know very well I did not mean that 
we had wandered in our bodies, but 
simply in our conversation.” 

“Of course,” said the ant, who 
was in continual fear lest these two 
troublesome ones should break into 
an open quarrel. “We understand 
that you mean we have wandered 
from the subject of which we were 
talking at first.” 

“Certainly,” the wasp agreed, in 
her most dignified manner, “that is 
exactly what 1 mean.” 

“But, really, I have forgotten what 
the starting point was,” the bee said, 
more pleasantly. 


38 UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 

“You were to tell us what you 
have been about all this long, hot 
day.” 

“Who said so?” asked the bee 
sharply. 

“ Oh, don’t put yourself out, now,” 
said the wasp very sarcastically. “I 
really do not suppose there is much 
need for you to tell the story, for 
I think I know pretty much what 
you have been about.” 

“Indeed!” said the bee. “Let me 
tell you that if you should even try 
to imagine all that I have done since 
I first started out early this morn¬ 
ing, your small brain would burst.” 

“Come, come!” cried the ant. “Why 
is- it that you two are determined 
to get into an argument over noth- 


i’AMILY NAMES 


39 


ing? Short-lived creatures like us 
should spend every moment in mak¬ 
ing one another happy, not in wrang¬ 
ling over trifles. Now I have a plan 
to propose: let each one of us take 
her turn in telling the story of the 
day that is now so near its end.” 


Chapter III 


miss pormica’s day 
he wasp turned to the ant. “I 



will agree to that,” she said, 
“if you, Miss Formica, will begin.” 

“ Oh, no,” said the ant; “it is not 
at all fitting that I should be the 
one to begin, for I have not the 
power to make a noise in the 
world, like either one of you. I 
am, as you know, only a poor, 
silent creature at the best.” 

“Well,” said the bee, “if we are 
to go by the amount of noise we 
make, I think Miss Yespa should 
begin, for I am sure she can out- 
buzz me.” 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 


41 


“Out-buzz you, indeed! As though 
anyone could do that!” exclaimed 
the wasp angrily. 

“But, then, I suppose,” hummed 
the bee as though to herself, “that 
the poor, idle thing has very little 
to tell.” 

“ Which shows,” said the wasp, 
more angrily than ever, “how little 
you know about me, if you do belong 
to the same order. It is the com¬ 
mon belief, however, and I suppose 
we should not expect you to be 
wiser than the rest of the world. 
Everybody says ‘as busy as a bee,’ 
but who ever heard anyone say ‘as 
busy as a wasp’? And yet, I can 
assure you that one is quite as 
true as the other.” 


42 UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAP 

“Yes, indeed, Miss Wasp/’ said 
the ant, “I know you are a very 
busy person, and surely there is no 
better way to prove the truth of 
this to our relative here than for 
you to give an account of your 
labors.” 

“I do not object to telling my 
story when my turn comes,” said 
the wasp, more gently, for the ant/s 
soft words had subdued her fiery 
temper, “but I think that you should 
make the beginning, for you have 
shown that you are much wiser than 
either of us.” 

“Yes,” said the bee impatiently, 
“and please hurry, for my wing 
begins to feel better, and I must 
not stay here much longer.” 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 


43 


“Well,” said the ant, waving her 
antennae up and down to make sure 
that there were no disagreeable crea¬ 
tures about, to interrupt her when 
she was well started with her story, 
“the first thing that I did this morn¬ 
ing was to help some of the pupae 
out of their cocoons.” 

“We let ours get out as best 
they can,” the wasp put in. “But 
do tell us how you go about it.” 

“First I tap, tap, tap, on the shell 
of the cocoon with my antennae until 
I make a little opening; then I make 
it bigger and bigger, until the help¬ 
less little thing is out. As soon as 
it can stand alone, I straighten out 
its antennae, pick the bits of cocoon 
from its legs, and finally bring a 


44 UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 

drop of honey, which I put in its 
mouth. As soon as it has fairly 
swallowed this, it is ready to run 
about with the rest of us.” 

“Dear me, what a lot of work for 
one little ant!” said the wasp. “If 
it were as much trouble as that to 
get wasps into the world, I think 
there would not be many. Did you 
spend the whole day getting babies 
out of their cradles?” 

“Oh, no, indeed. I had to feed the 
larvae.” 

“I have to do that, too,” said the 
wasp, “and a hard task it is. 
They are such greedy little things.” 

“Our larvae are just the same,” 
said the bee. “Dear, what a lot of 
work they make!” 


MISS FORMICA'S DAY 


45 


“Which proves what I said be¬ 
fore,” said the ant; “that we hy- 
menoptera are all alike in some 
things. Then another thing that I 
have done,” she continued, “was to 
carry into the nest a great many 
warm grains of sand, and place 
them around the eggs. The sun 
was so very hot to-day that we 
did not dare carry the eggs- out 
where it would strike them; so we 
had to follow the other plan to 
keep them at the right tempera¬ 
ture.” 

“Oh, dear! We never go to all 
that trouble,” said the wasp. 

“Neither do we,” said the bee; 
“it really seems to be a good deal 
of work to be an ant; and yet I 


46 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


suppose you are not of much use 
to human beings?” 

“That is a great mistake. You 
must know that we eat many tiny 
insects that would destroy useful 
plants.” 

“That is the way with us,” said 
the wasp. “The world calls us use¬ 
less, but it would be a very different 
sort of place if the wasps were not 
in it to help clear away troublesome 
little creatures.” 

“Well,” said the bee, “we do not 
eat creatures at all, so we are not 
useful in that way, but—” 

“And what else have you done 
to-day, Miss Formica?” rudely inter¬ 
rupted the wasp, who was not in 
the mood, just then, to hear the 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 


47 


bee hold forth on her own usefulness. 
The ant, with a reproving look at 
Miss Yespa, continued her story: 

“Well, the next thing that I did 
was to help my fellow-workers in 
the digging of a long tunnel which is 
to lead to a new nest we are about 
to make. I should be at that busi¬ 
ness this very minute, instead of 
wasting my time here, for to-morrow 
I shall be busy looking after the 
queens, or females. Our nest is so 
full of them that we expect them 
to come out at any time, and when 
they do come out we watch them 
very closely, to see that they do not 
wander off and start new nests.” 

“But how can you workers do 
anything with the queens, when they 


48 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


have wings and yon have none?” 
asked the bee. 

“That is very simple. After they 
have had their short and merry 
dance in the air, they drop to the 
ground, tired, and look about for a 
place to lay their eggs. Then our 
work begins. Several of us surround 
a queen and drive her into our nest, 
thus making sure of her, for she 
settles down at once to the business 
of laying eggs.” 

“But before you go any farther 
with your story,” said the wasp, “I 
wish you would explain where you 
get the honey that you say you feed 
to the young ants. I know you do 
not make honey.” 

“Indeed we do not. We have a 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 


49 


much easier way of getting honey 
than by making it. Did you ever 
happen to hear of a little insect 
called the aphis?” 

“No,” was the reply; “what is it 
like?” 

“It is a very tiny creature that 
lives on plants. The food that it 
eats turns to something that is like 
honey, and it has the power of giv¬ 
ing out this honey. Perhaps you 
have seen a human milking one of 
those things called cows?” 

“Oh, yes.” 

“ Then you have some idea of 
the way we get our honey. The 
aphis is our cow. We pass our an¬ 
tenna) slowly and gently along the 
sides of the aphis, and then it gives 


50 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


down to us a drop of honey, which 
we quickly swallow.” 

“How strange! I should think you 
would be very fond of this little 
aphis, since it is so helpful to you.” 

“We are very fond of the little 
creatures,” said the ant. “We look 
after them as closely as we do after 
ourselves. We protect them from 
their enemies in many ways. We 
also take care of their eggs, carry¬ 
ing them into our nests and out 
again according to the weather, just 
as we do with our own eggs.” 

“Since you do all this, I am sure 
that you pay for the honey you use,” 
said the wasp. For, you see, 
although the wasp is considered a 
sharp and unpleasant creature to 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 61 

have around, she is quite ready to 
own the good qualities of her rel¬ 
atives. 

“But,” said the bee, “do you store 
up food for use in the winter, as 
is done by our family?” 

“No, we do not.” 

“Then how do you live through 
the cold weather?” 

“We crawl into our nests and 
sleep the cold days away, since there 
is nothing better to *do. Those of 
us who are strong, and well grown 
wake up and come out when the 
warm days arrive, but the weak 
ones do not live until the cold 
weather is over.” 

“Are you a' young ant, hatched 
out this season?” asked the wasp, 


52 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


«or have you lived through the 
winter?” 

“I have lived not only through 
this winter, but through several,” 
said the ant proudly. 

“That must be the reason you are 
so clever,” said the bee. 

“Oh, if you think I am clever, you 
ought to have heard the man tell 
about some other kinds of ants. I 
am nothing but a common little gar¬ 
den ant, and really can do nothing 
at all when compared with the others 
that he told about. They do not 
belong to the Formica family, al¬ 
though they are true ants. I cannot 
begin to tell you all the strange 
and wonderful things that he told 
about them. Even if I could re- 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 


63 


member all that he said, I could 
not spare the time to tell you of it, 
but if you will only keep your ears 
open when the humans are around 
you may possibly hear about them, 
yourselves.” 

“Pshaw,” said the bee, “that would 
be altogether too much trouble! Be¬ 
sides, I never hear much of what 
humans say. I would rather listen 
to my own buzzing.” 

“So would I,” said the wasp; “and 
in that I am sure that both you and 
I show excellent taste. Now listen— 
was there ever any human sound 
that could excel this?” and she be¬ 
gan to buzz with all her might. 

The ant tried her best to make 
herself heard, but her small, weak 


54 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


voice was drowned by Miss Vespa’s 
loud buzzing, so there was nothing 
to do but to allow her to hum away 
until she was tired of it. When she 
at last paused in her unchanging 
song, the ant said: 

“Yes, I agree with you, that your 
music is very beautiful, but I hope 
you do not imagine that buzzing is 
the only melody in the world. Surely 
you have heard that made by the 
birds, which you must admit is very 
delightful.” 

“Yes,” replied the wasp, stretching 
her wings proudly, “it is true that 
the noise made by the birds is not 
very bad. Indeed, I often think it 
makes a fair accompaniment to my 
song, and I do not object to it at 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 


65 


all, unless the birds get too near to 
me, when it often is intolerable, some 
of them screech so.” 

“Humans also sing very sweetly, 
sometimes,” continued the ant. 

“Oh, as to human song,” said the 
wasp scornfully, “if you consider 
that fine, Miss Formica, I can only 
say you have very singular taste.” 

“I assure you, Miss Yespa, you 
cannot have heard the best human 
singing, or you could hardly express 
yourself in that manner. If you 
could only hear some of the voices 
that have charmed and delighted me! 
You see, that is what I gain by be¬ 
ing so silent a creature myself, I 
hear a great many delightful sounds 
from others. This, I am sure, gives 


56 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


more variety to my life, than if I 
always listened to myself, and had 
no ears for anyone else.” 

“Pshaw,” said the bee, “that will 
do for anyone to say who cannot 
make the faintest little buzz herself. 
Why, if you could sing, Miss For¬ 
mica, you would be just like us. 
You would be delighted with the 
sound of your own voice, just as we 
are.” 

The ant was silent several mo¬ 
ments; then she said slowly: 

“Perhaps you are right. Perhaps 
it it is natural for each living crea¬ 
ture to think its own gifts the best.” 

“I have heard,” said the wasp 
wisely, “that there are certain beings 
in the world that are not contented 


MISS FORMICA’S DAY 


57 


with their lot, and are always wish¬ 
ing they had been born something 
else.” 

“That is the way with humans,” 
rejoined the ant, “but I think there 
are no other living things that are 
so foolish. It is very strange, but I 
have never been near humans for 
any length of time without hear¬ 
ing them wishing for some other 
lot in life, or some other gifts than 
those which they possessed.” 

“Well, really,” said the bee, “what 
an uncomfortable existence theirs 
must be! I think I should hardly 
care to live if I were wishing all 
the time that I had been born some¬ 
thing else than a bee. But do these 
humans that you tell us of have 


68 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


nothing to do but stand around and 
wish for something that they cannot 
have?” 

“They have work to do, of course, 
but they neglect it.” 

“ Well, I have no patience with 
things like that,” said the wasp, “and 
I am very glad I am not a human, 
but only a little brown wasp.” 

“That is right, Miss Yespa,” said 
the ant. “And now, since you are 
so well contented with this life of 
yours, tell us, please, about your day. 
Miss Apis and I are waiting impa¬ 
tiently to hear it.” 


Chapter IV 
miss vespa’s day 

liTiss Vespa buzzed away very 
IV± gently to herself for a few 
minutes, as though in doubt where 
to begin her story. 

“Come,” said the bee at last, “we 
shall think you have nothing to tell 
us if you do not begin pretty soon. 
I am anxious to be gone, as you 
well know.” 

“Well, as I said before, instead 
of having nothing to tell, I am one 
of the busiest creatures alive. This 
morning I was up bright and early, 
as usual, and my first thought was as 
to where I should go for something to 

59 



60 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAP 


feed the hungry larvae. Since you 
both do this, as well as I, you know 
just what work it means. Last 
night, as I was going home to my 
nest, I chanced to pass a butcher’s 
shop, and I said to myself: ‘Wow, 
to-morrow morning I will come here 
for my breakfast, as well as for the 
day’s food for my charges.’” 

“What in the world could you 
find to eat in a butcher’s shop?” 
asked the bee in surprise. 

The wasp buzzed away for a mo¬ 
ment or two. Then, turning to the 
ant, she said: 

“You who are so wise must know 
why I went to the butcher’s shop. 
It seems to puzzle Miss Apis, but I 
am sure it is perfectly clear to you.” 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


61 


“No,” answered the ant, “I assure 
you I am quite as much in the dark 
as our cousin here. If you had said 
a grocery store or a baker’s shop, I 
might have thought that you were 
after sweets, but a place where dead 
animals are sold, and where they are 
kept so carefully covered up—dear 
me! that is quite beyond me.” 

“It is very strange,” said the wasp, 
“that although you are both my 
cousins, you do not know enough 
about my tastes to guess that. Well, 
I will tell you: I was after the big 
blowflies that hang around there, 
and of which all of our family are 
very fond. I went back and forth 
from my nest to the shop many 
times, and as I destroyed so many 




62 UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAP 

of these troublesome creatures for 
the butcher, I also took—for toll, 
as it were—a few bits of the nice 
red meat. This made the selfish 
butcher so angry that he tried to 
kill me, quite overlooking the good 
turn I had done him in ridding his 
shop of so many miserable flies. 
But that is the way with humans; 
they never know their friends/’ 

“ That is true,” assented the ant. 
“Is it not strange that creatures so 
wise as humans do not understand 
how much help we little beings are 
to them?” 

“They are good to me,” said the 
bee modestly. 

“ Certainly,” assented the wasp. 
“They will not kill one of your fam- 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


63 


ily, for they love your honey, and 
they will say, also, that you do not 
sting if you are not disturbed. But 
people will fly at me when I am 
buzzing about for my own amuse¬ 
ment, because, they say, if I am not 
killed I will sting some one. They 
never seem to know that I am quite 
as harmless as you, Miss Apis, if 
they do not molest me in any way. 
Of course, if they come near our 
nest, as I said before, we are likely 
to show our temper. But who can 
blame us for that?” 

“Humans certainly ought not to,” 
said the ant, “ for they, too, will 
fight for their homes and friends. 
I have even heard that they kill 
each other, sometimes in great num- 



64 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAP 


bers, just to gain a piece of ground. 
They call it ‘war,’ I believe, and 
think it a very honorable and glo¬ 
rious thing.” 

“Oh, come now,” said the bee; 
“surely, Miss Formica, you do not 
expect us to believe that they kill 
each other, and feel proud of it! 
I cannot believe that, even of a 
human.” 

“It is true, nevertheless,” persisted 
the ant. “I have heard a great 
deal about it. Men are given what 
is called ‘money,’ and are sent 
off to kill other men, that they 
may gain great honor and glory. 
They fight over a piece of ground 
just as we ants often do over an 
ant-hill.” 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


65 


“Well, really,” said the wasp, “what 
is the use of being one of those 
wise humans, if they know no better 
way to settle their troubles than by 
killing one another, just as we poor 
ignorant insects do! I am more 
than ever contented to be a wasp, 
now I have heard that.” 

“But, pray, continue your story, 
Miss Vespa,” urged the bee. “Bid 
you discontinue your visits to the 
butcher shop?” 

“Indeed, I did not, but after the 
butcher had rushed at me two or 
three times with a big cloth, and 
tried his best to strike me with it, I 
decided that his feelings toward me 
were not altogether friendly, and so 
I kept out of his way. It was easy 



66 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


enough to do this, for of course he 
had to wait on the people who 
came into the store to buy his 
meat, so he could not watch me all 
the time. When he was busy cut¬ 
ting the meat, I would fly down 
close to his head, and buzz my 
loudest. This would scare him, and 
he would strike at me with his big 
knife, when I would again soar to 
the ceiling, and buzz, buzz away. 
Oh, how angry he was, and how I 
did enjoy the game!” 

“And did he not manage to hit 
you, at all?” asked the bee. 

“Not even once. Although he was 
so many times larger than I, he was 
no match for my swiftness, so I man¬ 
aged to get all the flies I wanted, as 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


67 


well as bits of good rich meat, and, 
when I had got all I wished there, I 
flew away, as fresh and happy as 
when I first set out. 



HE WOULD STRIKE AT ME WITH HIS BIG KNIFE 


“My next task was to help enlarge 
the comb in the nest. To do this I 






















68 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


take a small bit of dry wood in my 
mouth, and work it about with my 
strong mandibles, moistening it with 
the sticky stuff that is always ready 
in my mouth. Soon I have a nice 
soft pulp, which I can fashion into 
any shape I like while it is moist. 
This stuff I use for making the 
comb. When it is dry it looks 
just like brown paper, but it is much 
stronger than the strongest paper.” 

“Do you put honey into this comb 
when it is done?” asked the bee. 

“No,” was the reply. “Why should 
we, since wasps do not live through 
the winter as bees do? We use the 
cells of the comb simply for the 
queen wasp to lay her eggs in. 
Each cell has one egg in it, and as 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


69 


soon as the perfect wasp leaves it 
we clean it out and the queen lays 
another egg in it. This goes on all 
summer long; so you see one nest 
hatches out a great many wasps.” 

“But if you all die in the winter, 
how do you start a new nest?” 
asked the bee. 

“Oh, there are always a few old 
females that are strong enough to 
live through the winter, sleeping the 
cold weather away under cozy heaps 
of bark or in the hollow of a tree^ 
or some place of that kind. When 
the warm days come, the female 
crawls out and goes to work to 
make a nest in the way I have just 
explained. She divides the comb off 
into cells, then puts an egg into 


70 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


each cell, and for a time she has to 
do all the work herself, even feeding 
the larvae.” 

“It must be rather hard work to 
be a queen wasp,” said the bee. 

“So it is for a while, but she soon 
has plenty of helpers, for the first 
wasps that are hatched are always 
workers. Then she can take things 
a little easier, you see, so that on 
the whole it is a rather good thing 
to be a queen, for she lives on year 
after year.” 

“Yes,” said the ant, “and that is 
worth working pretty hard for.” 

“Your story has been very inter¬ 
esting, Miss Vespa,” said the bee, 
spreading her wings for flight; “and I 
think I must bid you good-afternoon.” 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


71 


“Oh, Miss Apis,” cried the ant, 
running back and forth excitedly, 
“that will not do! You must not 
leave us in this way.” 

“It grieves me very much indeed,” 
said the bee in her most polite man¬ 
ner, “but I have already stayed much 
longer than I should have done ” 

“You do not mean,” said the ant, 
“that, now you have heard all 
about us, you are going off without 
telling your story!” 

“Really, really,” said the bee 
earnestly, “I must not stay > any 
longer to-day.” 

“But,” said the wasp, with a tre¬ 
mendous buzzing, “did we not 
answer all your questions, and tell 
you everything, keeping you amused 




72 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


while you were forced to remain 
here resting ? ” 

“Yes, yes,” returned the bee, “but 
you see—” 

“And,” interrupted the wasp, 
“would not the time have seemed 
much longer if we had not been 
here, so that you might have flown 
away before your wing was quite 
well, and thus have lost the use of 
it, perhaps forever?” 

“Yes, that is all very true, but, 
you see, I must do my duty.” 

“But is it not your duty to keep 
your promises?” 

“ Of course it is, but you cannot 
say that I made any promises.” 

“Perhaps not in so many words,” 
said the ant, “but you must admit, 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


73 


Miss Apis, that you allowed us to 
think you intended to take your 
turn at story-telling.” 



A LARGE PURPLE BUTTERFLY DROPPED DOWN AMONG THEM. 


Just at this moment, like the soft 
flutter of a feather, a large purple 
butterfly* dropped down among them. 















74 UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAP 

“Oh” said the ant, “how fortu¬ 
nate! Here is a judge to decide for 
us. You are very welcome, Mr. 
Butterfly.” 

“I am glad to hear it,” replied 
the butterfly; “and now, what is it 
that you desire of me?” 

“We three have been having a 
slight dispute, and we wish you to 
settle it for us. I am willing to 
leave it to you, and I am sure the 
rest will be, since you are no rela¬ 
tion whatever to any of us.” 

“How do you know he is not 
related to the bee and me? I am 
sure he can fly,” said the wasp. 

“That is nothing. Birds, also, can 
fly, and yet I do not suppose you 
will claim for a moment that you 


MISS VESPA’S DAY 


75 


are related to them. No, the but¬ 
terfly is not even in the same order 
with us. He belongs to the Lep- 
idoptera.” 

“Well, the names are something 
alike, anyway,” said the wasp stub¬ 
bornly. “But, now, come, Mr. Lepi- 
whatever - your - name - may-be, please 
decide this matter for us. Miss 
Formica, will you state the case to 
him?” 

“I suppose,” said the ant, coming 
closer to the bee, “that you will do 
as he says, Miss Apis?” 

“ Certainly, if it agrees with my 
own wishes,” said the bee, pertly. 




Chapter V 

THE BEE’S STORY 

he wasp was just about to 



-S- make a stinging retort to 
the bee’s remark when the butter¬ 
fly said: 

“You industrious creatures seem 
to think that my time is of no 
importance, because I have no work 
to do, but I have a pressing 
engagement in a garden over here 
before the four-o’clocks close, so 
please tell me at once all about 
the case on which you wish me to 
give my opinion.” 

Then, amid much buzzing from 
the wasp and the bee, and many 


76 


THE BEE’S STORY 


77 


soothing words from the ant, the 
case was fully explained. 

“Dear me,” said the butterfly, 
when the others paused for his 
decision, “that is far too deep a 
question for me. Besides, I think 
it is almost time for the four- 
o’clocks to close,” and spreading his 
purple wings he sailed away. 

“ What a humbug he is, for all 
his fine appearance!” said the wasp 
crossly, while the bee buzzed her 
loudest for joy. 

“I think I may as well go, too,” 
said the bee. “I am interested in 
those four-o’clocks, myself.” 

In another second she would have 
been gone, but at that very instant 
they heard a loud humming which 




78 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


made that of the bee and the wasp 
sound like whispering, and down 
plumped a handsome bumble-bee. 

“Ah,” said the ant, running to 
and fro in her joy, “Here is one of 
our own order. Come, now, Mr. 
Bumble-Bee, tell us what shall be 
done with your first cousin, Miss 
Apis, who is giving us no end of 
annoyance by her stubbornness.” 

The story was then told again— 
not without some spiteful words 
from the quick-tempered wasp. At 
its conclusion the bumble-bee gave 
a loud buzz, and then said something 
that to the ant and the wasp seemed 
very wide of the mark: 

“I know where there is a fine 
field of buckwheat.” 


THE BEE’S STORY 


79 


“Buckwheat, buckwheat!” said the 
bee in great excitement. “Where? 
where? Oh, do tell me where!” 

“So I will,” said the bumble-bee, 
“but not until you have told your 
story to our * friends here; for, re¬ 
member, a promise implied is just as 
binding as a promise actually made, 
and since you allowed them to 
think you meant to tell your story, 
you are, according to my notions 
of duty, bound to do this. So if 
you will meet me by the bed of 
four-o’clocks in about two flights to 
your apiary, I will take you to the 
field of buckwheat.” 

The bumble-bee with a loud 
buzzing flew off, and the bee said 
crossly: 



80 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“Well, I must say, you two are 
very anxious to learn how one poor 
honey bee has spent this summer 
day! I should feel very much flat¬ 
tered if I did not know it was 
pure stubbornness on ‘your part.” 

“And I suppose your determina¬ 
tion not to tell us was only that 
commendable trait, firmness. I have 
often noticed that what is horrid 
stubbornness on the part of others 
becomes a noble firmness when we 
show it ourselves,” said the ant. 

The bee pretended not to hear 
this very sage remark, but at 
once plunged into her story by 
saying: 

“Well, the first thing I did this 
morning was to help kill the males 


THE BEE’S STORY 


81 


—drones, we call them—and throw 
them out of the hive.” 

“How cruel!” exclaimed the ant 
and wasp together. 

“It may seem so to you, whose 
males are not long-lived like ours, 
but our hive was so full of them 
that they took too much room, and 
a great deal too much honey. If we 
had not driven out the lazy fellows, 
we should soon have been turned 
out ourselves. The next thing I did 
was to set out after propolis.’ Has 
either of you ever heard of such a 
thing?” 

The ant and wasp both declared 
they never had. 

“It is a sweet-scented, sticky stuff, 
which we get from the buds of 


82 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


plants. We use it to spread over 
the inside of our hives, and to stop 
up the cracks. Of course we did 
not want it for that this morning, 
as we have been in this hive ever 
since May. But this morning a sad 
thing happened to us. The sentinels 
that we always keep at the door 
of the hive must have fallen asleep, 
or wandered away for a minute, for 
a bold snail came walking in. Of 
course he was promptly attacked, 
but he drew himself into his shell 
house. (So convenient, that—to 
have your house on your back!) 
Then we at once began to cover 
up his snailship with propolis, and 
for fear the supply would run short 
I was sent out after some. 


THE BEE’S STORY 


83 


“When I had gathered a small 
quantity I made it up into a little 
ball, flew back to the hive with it, 
and gave it to one of the others, 
who was waiting near the door. It 
did not require many trips by some 
of the other workers and myself to 
have Mr. Snail safely cemented up 
in his tomb, where he could make 
no more trouble for any one. That 
is the way we treat our unbidden 
guests.” 

“You may be sure,” said the wasp, 
“that we shall never visit you unless 
you send us a most pressing invita¬ 
tion.” 

“No, indeed,” said the ant, “even 
though you have so much of that 
sweet stuff that I love so well, I 



84 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


shall be content with that which our 
aphides furnish us so willingly.” 

“But go on with your interesting 
story,” urged the wasp. “What did 
you do next?” 

“The next thing I did was to go 
off after honey with which to feed 
the workers that are now enlarging 
our comb. I carried a quantity of 
honey, until several others also 
came in with food for the busy 
ones. Then, finding I was not 
needed, I went off after some pol¬ 
len. I make the pollen into tiny 
pellets, and then put them into 
the little baskets which dear Mother 
Nature has made for me on my 
hind legs. 

“And what do you do with it 


THE BEE’S STORY 


85 


when you get back to the hive?” 
asked the ant. 

“I pass it over to another worker, 
who moistens it well and then stores 
it away in one of the cells.” 

“And then what do you do with 
it?” the ant persisted. 

“It is used to feed the larvae as 
needed. Well, after I had carried 
pollen for a while, there was a call 
for more wax.” 

“Oh, do tell about that,” said the 
ant; “that must be very inter¬ 
esting.” 

“It is very simple. A number of 
us go out and fill ourselves with 
honey. Then, on our return, instead 
of disgorging it from the first 
stomach, as we do when' we wish 


86 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


it to remain honey, we hang our¬ 
selves in the hive by clinging 
together in a long bunch. We 
remain in this position perfectly 
quiet, until the wax comes out on 
the under side of our abdomens. It 
is then taken off by our hind legs 
and used where needed.” 

“So, then, you had a nice rest 
while waiting for the wax to form,” 
said the ant. 

“Well, you may call it resting 
if you like, but I think hanging to 
another bee with your forelegs, 
while another hangs upon you in 
the same way, is very like work. 
For my part, I much prefer being 
out in the sunshine, whispering to 
the flowers; but we learn very early 


THE BEE’S STORY 


87 


to do our duty, without regard to 
our inclinations.” 

“And do you, as well as the rest 
of us, give special food to the larvse 
that are to become queens?” asked 
the wasp. 

“Oh, certainly. The way we man¬ 
age is this: we provide cells of 
different sizes for the eggs that our 
queen lays. The workers are in 
the smallest ones, the males in the 
middle-sized ones, and the queen- 
eggs in the largest ones. The queen 
lays the workers’ eggs first, the 
drones’ next and the queens’ last. 
When I tell you that our queen 
(for of course we have but one in 
a hive at a time) lays at least two 
hundred eggs a day, from the 


88 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


beginning of spring until the cold 
weather comes, you will know that 
it is no small task to feed our 
larvae.” 

“Of course, of course,” said the 
ant and the wasp together. 

“I have heard,” continued the 
bee, “a queer story of the way in 
which our present queen came 
to her place. It seems that our 
first queen was accidentally killed 
when every queen cell was empty, 
so without loss of time the cell of 
a worker less than three days old 
was selected. This cell was enlarged 
by tearing down the surrounding 
cells. Then the larva inside it was 
immediately fed royal food. For 
several days it was carefully watched 


THE BEE’S STORY 


89 


and tended, one bee being appointed 
to stay constantly beside the cell, 
until the time came for it to go into 
the cocoon. Then the cell was closed 
up, and it was left to itself. In a 
few days the hive had a new 
queen.” 

“How very interesting!” said the 
wasp. 

“But, now, to return to the events 
of the day,” the bee went on, “when 
I was released from the task of mak¬ 
ing wax, I flew out to get food for 
the larvae again, and met with the 
slight accident that brought me here. 
And so, as my story is finished, I 
think I must be off. The bumble¬ 
bee will be waiting for me, and I 
cannot afford to miss that field of 


90 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAP 


buckwheat. You know there is noth¬ 
ing better for making honey.” 

“Well, I rather like the taste of 
buckwheat, myself,” said the wasp, 
“and so, if you do not mind, I will 
follow along after you.” 

“Very well,” said the bee, “I am 
sure there is enough for both of us.” 

“What a pity that you cannot 
come, too, Miss Formica,” said the 
wasp. “It seems rather shabby of 
us, who have wings, to fly off and 
leave you, who have no wings, all 
alone.” 

“ Oh, pray, do not worry about 
me,” said the ant serenely. “I will 
work a while at my tunneling, and 
then it will be bedtime.” 

“And you will not be lonely?” 


THE BEE’S STORY 


91 


“Not at all. Busy people are sel¬ 
dom lonely; and, besides, perhaps some 
of the humans will come near me, 
and I may be able to pick up some 
more knowledge—which is, I think, 
far better than flying away to a field 
of buckwheat.” 

“Better to you, perhaps,” said the 
bee with a happy buzz, “but I must 
confess that I prefer honey to know¬ 
ledge, any day.” 

“Well, as I have already told 
you, I also like honey, but unlike 
you I get both—honey from the 
aphis, and knowledge from the hu¬ 
mans.” 

“But you have no merry flight in 
the air with the beautiful sun shin¬ 
ing on you,” said the bee. 


92 


UNDEB THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“‘The beautiful sun’ is very hot 
to-day,” replied the ant, “and I much 
prefer tunneling in the cool, sweet¬ 
smelling earth.” 

“ Which proves,” said the wasp, 
“that our Creator has given to each 
one of us special tastes to fit our 
special places in the world.” 

“So it does,” said the ant, “and 
wise is the bee, the wasp, or the 
ant, who is content with her own 
gifts and powers instead of vainly 
sighing for those of others.” 

“True,” said the wasp and the bee 
together. 

“But, now, in spite of your wis¬ 
dom, we must leave you,” added the 
bee. 

“Yes, here we go,” said the wasp. 





SPREADING THEIR GAUZY WINGS, 
AWAY THEY FLEW TOGETHER 




94 


UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAF 


“Q-ood-by, good-by!” buzzed the bee. 

Spreading their gauzy wings, away 
they flew together, while the ant 
contentedly ran off to work on the 
new tunnel. 



































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